Some of us here at Grateful Plate are doing an "October Challenge", where each of us creates and follows a unique structure for living and eating clean this October! Here at GP, we honor each person's unique dietary needs and preferences, and each of us will be posting about our respective "challenge".  We encourage you all to share your stories, ask questions, offer tips about what's worked well for you in the past to get on track AND STAY on track! We hope this inspires you to make the changes you wish to make for yourself, and if there is anything that we can do to help you get there, please let us know!

Each week: 1 non-vegan breakfast, 1 non-vegan lunch, 2 non-vegan dinners, the rest vegan

• I hope this will give me just enough satisfaction of foods I enjoy, and also want to avoid for health reasons

1 Meal Per Day: Large Greens & Veggie Salad

• I love salads, they fill me up, and they help ensure I eat a lot of veggies

No artificial sweeteners or processed foods (including chips, crackers, etc)

• I want to eat clean, and doing so means eliminating these types of foods, which I love and also have a hard time resisting, or eating in moderation.

No deep fried foods

• Another type of food I love, cannot control myself when giving the option, so I need this to be a cold turkey thing. I've yet to find middle ground with fried food.

All eating between the time of waking up and 9:30 pm

• I need a realistic cut-off, given when I got to bed

All Meat consumed will be from Grateful Plate

• In an effort to eat clean, I know with the meat I get from Grateful Plate, it's of the highest quality. 

Limit Tahini consumption

• I have a serious addiction to Soom Tahini. It's just so good and makes so many things better. I still want this to be part of my diet for health and enjoyment reasons, I just need to be more moderate with it. 

Drink 1 large glass of water upon waking

• I've never tried this religiously, and I hope it puts me on a good morning schedule

Take my Chinese Herbs EVERY DAY

• I am streaky with stuff like this. I just need to  DO IT!

In Bed by 1:30 am 

• As I type this at 1:55 am, I realize I'm a better person with a solid 6 or 7 hours of sleep. That means 1:30 am - 7:30 am is the minimum sleep hours (ideally more likely 12:30 am - 7:30 am)

Exercise

• Get out and walk and enjoy the brisk autumn air. 
• Find roller blades that fit my janky feet so I can start playing hockey at the rink down the street.